Despite his reclusive nature Kurt Trampedach is probably the most popular Danish artist around and this is in small amount due to the body of figurative work he produced in the 1980's. His most popular poster image is the above (titled 'Anette') which Trampedach produced whilst living in New York. (I have this poster hanging above my computer)
In later years, he moved to the south of France and focused on painting unusual dwarf like figures with opulent features. Quite what this large body of unusual paintings is meant to represent is not clear to me, but its obviously something important to Trampedach since he's spent up to the last two decades playing about with the same motif. I much prefer his earlier efforts however, and though the essential elements of his figurative style remains the same I can't bring myself to love his later works which are too uniform and repetative.
When I was studying in England, I used to watch a video'ed DR documentary titled 'The Man on the Mountain' about Trampedach each time I returned home. This programme was filmed in the south of France and caught Trampedach at the beginning of his 'dwarf period' but had an interesting perspective on the artistic endeavours of the man and his method. I used to watch this programme and feel a sense of inspiration that I tried to carry back to school with me after each holiday...
It didn't do me much good in the end, and I eventually fell under the spell of other artists, but I still nurture a sense of admiration and respect for Trampedach, even though I've lost the thread of his work.
Kurt Trampedach's home page
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